Ouch. Lady Gaga made what she calls an "uncomfortable announcement" yesterday regarding the cancellation of upcoming concerts in Chicago, Detroit and Hamilton, Canada -- but the reason why the 26-year-old singer is taking time off sounds more "excruciatingly painful" than "uncomfortable." Gaga apparently suffered an injury while performing some time ago but continued to tour anyway -- which, naturally, only made things worse. Now she's stuck with a crippling "case of synovitis (severe inflammation of joints)." Literally -- Gaga says she can't even walkat this point. And as anyone who's dealt with chronic joint pain (which can be the result of an injury like Gaga's or a number of other conditions including rheumatoid arthritis and lupus) can tell you, the girl is NOT exaggerating.

Gaga's misery is palpable in the statement on her Facebook page:

"There's an unfortunate announcement coming out right now, concerning myself and the Born This Way Ball. I'm so sorry. I barely know what to say. I've been hiding a show injury and chronic pain for sometime now, over the past month it has worsened. I've been praying it would heal. I hid it from my staff, I didn't want to disappoint my amazing fans. However after last night's performance I could not walk and still can't."

"To the fans in Chicago, Detroit & Hamilton. I hope you can forgive me, as it is nearly impossible for me to forgive myself. I'm devastated & sad."

Sounds like Gaga is being a touch hard on herself, right? But her words tell us a lot about how she ended up in this fix: The initial injury was her body's way of telling her to slow down. Give herself a break. Stop pushing so hard.

Guess she learned her lesson! But we should learn from her experience, too -- because we all tend to push ourselves just a bit too hard. We all tend to ignore that nagging twinge or dull ache or whatever else that makes day to day life difficult ... before it blows up into something that makes day to day life impossible.